NEW YORK (AP) - A man has sued the maker of the health drink Boost Plus, claiming the vitamin-enriched beverage gave him an erection that would not subside and caused him to be hospitalized.

The lawsuit filed by Christopher Woods of New York said he bought the nutrition beverage made by the pharmaceutical company Novartis AG at a drugstore on June 5, 2004, and drank it.

Woods' court papers say he woke up the next morning "with an erection that would not subside" and sought treatment that day for the condition, called severe priapism.

They say Woods, 29, underwent surgery for implantation of a Winter shunt, which moves blood from one area to another.

The lawsuit, filed late Monday, says Woods later had problems that required a hospital visit and penile artery embolization, a way of closing blood vessels. Closing off some blood flow prevents engorgement and lessens the likelihood of an erection.

Woods' lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, names Novartis Consumer Health Inc. as a defendant. A spokeswoman for the company, Brandi Robinson, said Tuesday the company was aware of the lawsuit but does not comment on pending litigation.

Woods' lawyer did not return telephone calls for comment Tuesday.

Novartis' Boost Plus Web site describes the drink as "a great tasting, high calorie, nutritionally complete oral supplement for people who require extra energy and protein in a limited volume," in vanilla, chocolate and strawberry.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bill's Comment: You would think that most guys would be VERY HAPPY! Maybe it wasn't the boost he wanted. Why not play ring toss while the spirit was still arising? This pun could go on forever, so I will quit while I am ahead.

Bill's Comment #2 (6/12/07): I would not be surprised if it is determined that this crybaby took either a labido enhancer or ED drug such as Viagra or Cialis. ... wait a minute... BREAKING NEWS! ... This jusy in at the news desk, but it has been determined that tis was caused by global warming! Dan, where are you? You need to know this!

(We now return you to our regularly scheduled program, already in progress.)

(1) Migration from Mexico to the United States is directly linked to the degree of economic opportunity and the standard of living in Mexico.

(2) Mexico comprises a prime source of migration to the United States.

(3) Remittances from Mexican citizens working in the United States reached a record high of nearly $17,000,000,000 in 2004.

(4) Migration patterns may be reduced from Mexico to the United States by addressing the degree of economic opportunity available to Mexican citizens.

(5) Many Mexican assets are held extra-legally and cannot be readily used as collateral for loans.

(6) A majority of Mexican businesses are small or medium size with limited access to financial capital.

(7) These factors constitute a major impediment to broad-based economic growth in Mexico.

(8) Approximately 20 percent of Mexico's population works in agriculture, with the majority of this population working on small farms and few on large commercial enterprises.

(9) The Partnership for Prosperity is a bilateral initiative launched jointly by the President of the United States and the President of Mexico in 2001, which aims to boost the social and economic standards of Mexican citizens, particularly in regions where economic growth has lagged and emigration has increased.

(10) The Presidents of Mexico and the United States and the Prime Minister of Canada, at their trilateral summit on March 23, 2005, agreed to promote economic growth, competitiveness, and quality of life in the agreement on Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.

(b) Sense of Congress Regarding Partnership for Prosperity- It is the sense of Congress that the United States and Mexico should accelerate the implementation of the Partnership for Prosperity to help generate economic growth and improve the standard of living in Mexico, which will lead to reduced migration, by--

(1) increasing access for poor and under served populations in Mexico to the financial services sector, including credit unions;

(2) assisting Mexican efforts to formalize its extra-legal sector, including the issuance of formal land titles, to enable Mexican citizens to use their assets to procure capital;

(3) facilitating Mexican efforts to establish an effective rural lending system for small- and medium-sized farmers that will--

(A) provide long term credit to borrowers;

(B) develop a viable network of regional and local intermediary lending institutions; and

(6) enhancing Mexican efforts to strengthen governance at all levels, including efforts to improve transparency and accountability, and to eliminate corruption, which is the single biggest obstacle to development;

(7) assisting the Government of Mexico in implementing all provisions of the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (ratified by Mexico on May 27, 1997) and urging the Government of Mexico to participate fully in the Convention's formal implementation monitoring mechanism;

(8) helping the Government of Mexico to strengthen education and training opportunities throughout the country, with a particular emphasis on improving rural education; and

(9) encouraging the Government of Mexico to create incentives for persons who have migrated to the United States to return to Mexico.

(c) Sense of Congress Regarding Bilateral Partnership on Health Care- It is the sense of Congress that the Government of the United States and the Government of Mexico should enter into a partnership to examine uncompensated and burdensome health care costs incurred by the United States due to legal and illegal immigration, including--

(1) increasing health care access for poor and under served populations in Mexico;

(2) assisting Mexico in increasing its emergency and trauma health care facilities along the border, with emphasis on expanding prenatal care in the United States-Mexico border region;

(3) facilitating the return of stable, incapacitated workers temporarily employed in the United States to Mexico in order to receive extended, long-term care in their home country; and

(4) helping the Government of Mexico to establish a program with the private sector to cover the health care needs of Mexican nationals temporarily employed in the United States.

Funny wording sense the SPP has NEVER been approved by Congress. It was fast-tracked back in 2005 and now it's being stuck into an immigration bill so it will never have to face the scrutiny and review of the Congress or the House. This whole bill stinks like a week old diaper but this section by itself is enough to make me puke. Our nation is being sold out right from under us!

Members of the "La Raza" movement envision reclaiming the American Southwest

Controversial Latino groups, including the National Council of La Raza, were granted virtual veto power over the immigration bill hammered out yesterday by Senate Republicans, Democrats and the White House, the Washington Post reported.

A number of prominent Republicans have rejected the bill – which still has not been issued in its final form – as "amnesty" for millions of people who came to the U.S. illegally.

The National Council of La Raza, or "The Race," was condemned last year by Rep. Charles Norwood, R-Ga., as a radical "pro-illegal immigration lobbying organization that supports racist groups calling for the secession of the western United States as a Hispanic-only homeland."

Norwood, writing in Human Events, called on La Raza to renounce its support of the campus group MEChA – Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan – which sees "The Race" as part of a transnational ethnic group that one day will reclaim Aztlan, the mythical birthplace of the Aztecs. In Chicano folklore, Aztlan includes California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and parts of Colorado and Texas.

As WND reported, Norwood said last year the National Council of La Raza campaigned hard against a plan to provide funding, training and resources for state and local law enforcement agencies who help federal officers in capturing and detaining criminals who are illegal aliens.

"For those who haven't figured it out yet, the entire illegal immigration crisis we suffer is due 100 percent from failure to enforce existing law," Norwood said. "The other side (including La Raza) knows this very well, and knows that the continued suppression of U.S. law enforcement efforts is essential to permanently destroying our borders."

Regarding the new bill, Eric Gutierrez, lead lobbyist for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, told the Post there's "a real sense that the Latino community is key to the solution in this debate, so now they are reaching out to us more than ever."

"Neither party wants to make a misstep politically," he said.

The Post said the Latino groups "were practically in the room" as Democratic and Republican senators negotiated the bill, which would grant quick legal status to millions of illegal immigrants, create a temporary worker program and increase border security.

Before criticism came rolling in, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., insisted the bill is not "amnesty," but lawmakers such as Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, and Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., immediately applied that label.

King called it "a pardon and reward for lawbreakers," and DeMint declared, "I don't care how you try to spin it, this is amnesty."

Last year, Latino groups demonstrated their power by filling streets in cities across the nation when the House passed a bill that would have made illegal immigration a felony.

The Post noted La Raza, MALDEF, the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, and the National Immigration Forum are part of a broad network of immigrant rights groups that have been speaking daily with top aides in the offices of Democratic Sens. Ted Kennedy and Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader.

The bill promoted by Kennedy would allow illegal immigrants to come forward and obtain a "Z visa" that puts them on a track for permanent residency within eight to 13 years. Fees and a fine of $5,000 are required and heads of household first must return to their home countries.

The illegals would be able to obtain a probationary card right away to live and work in the U.S., but the path to citizenship cannot begin until completion of border improvements and the high-tech ID system.

The temporary worker program also would be delayed until the new security measures are in place. The workers would be required to return home after two years and would not be on a track for permanent status. The guest worker visas could be renewed twice, but the worker would be required to leave for one year between each renewal.

Democrats wanted guest workers to be allowed to stay indefinitely.

Two tough issues remain for which Kennedy's Latino "stakeholders" likely will have sway. Republicans and Democrats still are divided on whether 400,000 foreigners entering the country as temporary workers would have to leave the country after three years or be granted a chance to remain permanently, the Post reported. Also, the parties must resolve how extended family ties should be weighed in granting visas.

William Ramos, a spokesman for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, told the Post his constituency would oppose elimination of "some aspects of family reunification" and also a policy that would force immigrants to return to their home countries for an extended period and to petition for reentry.

The White House held a meeting just over two weeks ago with Latino groups, and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez have had contact.

"At least they are paying attention to us," MALDEF President John Trasviña told the Post.

Monday, June 04, 2007

His father may have been the architect of NASCAR, but throughout his life, Bill France Jr. proved to be the ultimate general manager.

His plaque at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame may put it best: "Other than the founding of NASCAR itself, Bill Jr.'s appointment to leadership is probably the most significant event in the history of the sanctioning body."

France Jr.'s ability to transform his father's original vision into something greater than the sum of its parts was his greatest accomplishment. Under his three decades of leadership, NASCAR evolved from a regional sport to one with a world-wide fan base. He was a trailblazer in the field of corporate sponsorships and the guiding force behind a television contract worth billions of dollars.

"In life you've got rules you have to live by, and you have to have people to enforce those rules," France Jr. once said. "If you don't have rules, you have chaos. Basically we are the government in the little country of motorsports."

"Our rules are the statutes and the laws of this little country. To gain and keep the confidence of everyone involved with NASCAR, those participating need to know, as evidenced by our behavior, that the rules are applicable to everyone and are enforced fairly."

France Jr. suffered a mild heart attack in 1997 while in Japan for a NASCAR exhibition race, and was diagnosed with cancer in 1999. He has never revealed what type of cancer he had.

Although his cancer was in remission, he handed off day-to-day duties of running NASCAR to his son, Brian, in late 2003.

In March, France Jr. was admitted to Halifax Medical Center under the care of his personal physicians but was released to his doctor's care.

William C. France, chairman of the board of directors for International Speedway Corporation, died Monday at home. He celebrated his 74th birthday in April.

Born in Washington, D.C., in 1933 but raised in Daytona Beach, Bill Jr. was immersed in the sport of auto racing from the time he could talk. Being the boss' son, that also meant a measure of responsibility.

After attending the University of Florida and a two-year stint in the U.S. Navy, France Jr. returned to make racing promotion his full-time occupation. He parked cars and sold concessions at the old beach and road course, then took a hands-on approach to his father's dream of building a superspeedway in the swampland west of Daytona Beach.

"We went seven days a week for 13 months to build the speedway," France Jr. recalled. "We went from 7 in the morning to 7 at night, and worked in the winter until it got dark."

In many cases, that meant operating the equipment himself.

"I ran a motor grader some and a bulldozer, but mostly I was on a compactor," France Jr. said. "I did a little of this, that and the other. I even had a mule out there one time pulling trees out of the swamp."

"Everything that was motorized back then got stuck in the swamp. I said, let's try a mule. That didn't work either."

With miles of strip malls and restaurants along International Speedway Blvd. today, it may be difficult to imagine how wild that tract of land would have been 50 years ago.

"We'd have big piles of stumps that we had to burn," France Jr. said. "I remember seeing a big rattlesnake out here one day. They asked me, 'Where did you find him at?' I pointed to where I found it."

"This one man had an ax and he swung it into a stump and we heard rattles buzzing all over the place. The area was full of snakes. We cleared out of there pretty fast."

France Jr. had an uncanny ability to recognize potential growth and take advantage of those opportunities. While in the service, he developed a relationship with Californian Bob Barkheimer, a move which strengthened NASCAR's ties to the west coast.

He loved motorcycles and competed in the Baja 1000, which led to the addition of a motocross race at Daytona International Speedway. The Daytona Supercross is now one of the highest-attended events at the track and correlated with the growth of Daytona's Bike Week.

France Jr. served as vice president of NASCAR for six years before his father retired in 1972. France Jr. negotiated a deal with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to sponsor NASCAR's top-tier series, then went after television partners to expose his product to potential fans.

Following successful ratings for flag-to-flag coverage of the Daytona 500 by CBS in 1979, France Jr. was able to leverage the broadcast rights to the point where he negotiated a $2.4 billion contact with FOX, NBC and Turner Sports for the 2001 season.

Jim Hunter, former president of Darlington Raceway, said France Jr. was open to suggestions but only to a point.

"Bill always let you speak your piece," Hunter said. "And if you disagreed with him, that was OK, if he thought you had a good reason. But he had a way of looking at you over his glasses after a while, and when he did that you knew he'd had about enough of you. Bill France didn't lose many arguments."

Still, France Jr. never lost sight of what made NASCAR popular in the first place: its drivers.

"If you go back and look and think about it, NASCAR started off in 1948 with a group of racecar drivers who were in their 20s and 30s and started racing," France Jr. said. "They all came up together, and then they went out together. Then you had the Fireball Robertses of the world ... but then came David Pearson and Richard Petty. Then came Darrell Waltrip.

"I remember when Waltrip put out a statement that said the old guys better watch out because there are some new kids in town. Then came the time when he had to step back. So this is another cycle we're going through now, that's all."

...American institutions rest solely on good citizenship. They were created by people who had a background of self-government. New arrivals should be limited to our capacity to absorb them into the ranks of good citizenship. America must be kept American. For this purpose, it is necessary to continue a policy of restricted immigration. It would be well to make such immigration of a selective nature with some inspection at the source, and based either on a prior census or upon the record of naturalization. Either method would insure the admission of those with the largest capacity and best intention of becoming citizens. I am convinced that our present economic and social conditions warrant a limitation of those to be admitted. We should find additional safety in a law requiring the immediate registration of all aliens. Those who do not want to be partakers of the American spirit ought not to settle in America...

October 12, 1915, in an address to the Knights of Columbus, Carnegie Hall, NYC.

... There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all. This is just as true of the man who puts "native" before the hyphen as of the man who puts German or Irish or English or French before the hyphen. Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance. But if he is heartily and singly loyal to this Republic, then no matter where he was born, he is just as good an American as any one else.

The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic. The men who do not become Americans and nothing else are hyphenated Americans; and there ought to be no room for them in this country. The man who calls himself an American citizen and who yet shows by his actions that he is primarily the citizen of a foreign land, plays a thoroughly mischievous part in the life of our body politic. He has no place here; and the sooner he returns to the land to which he feels his real heart-allegiance, the better it will be for every good American. There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.

For an American citizen to vote as a German-American, an Irish-American, or an English-American, is to be a traitor to American institutions; and those hyphenated Americans who terrorize American politicians by threats of the foreign vote are engaged in treason to the American Republic.

Americanization

The foreign-born population of this country must be an Americanized population - no other kind can fight the battles of America either in war or peace. It must talk the language of its native-born fellow-citizens, it must possess American citizenship and American ideals. It must stand firm by its oath of allegiance in word and deed and must show that in very fact it has renounced allegiance to every prince, potentate, or foreign government. It must be maintained on an American standard of living so as to prevent labor disturbances in important plants and at critical times. None of these objects can be secured as long as we have immigrant colonies, ghettos, and immigrant sections, and above all they cannot be assured so long as we consider the immigrant only as an industrial asset. The immigrant must not be allowed to drift or to be put at the mercy of the exploiter. Our object is to not to imitate one of the older racial types, but to maintain a new American type and then to secure loyalty to this type. We cannot secure such loyalty unless we make this a country where men shall feel that they have justice and also where they shall feel that they are required to perform the duties imposed upon them. The policy of "Let alone" which we have hitherto pursued is thoroughly vicious from two stand-points. By this policy we have permitted the immigrants, and too often the native-born laborers as well, to suffer injustice. Moreover, by this policy we have failed to impress upon the immigrant and upon the native-born as well that they are expected to do justice as well as to receive justice, that they are expected to be heartily and actively and single-mindedly loyal to the flag no less than to benefit by living under it.

We cannot afford to continue to use hundreds of thousands of immigrants merely as industrial assets while they remain social outcasts and menaces any more than fifty years ago we could afford to keep the black man merely as an industrial asset and not as a human being. We cannot afford to build a big industrial plant and herd men and women about it without care for their welfare. We cannot afford to permit squalid overcrowding or the kind of living system which makes impossible the decencies and necessities of life. We cannot afford the low wage rates and the merely seasonal industries which mean the sacrifice of both individual and family life and morals to the industrial machinery. We cannot afford to leave American mines, munitions plants, and general resources in the hands of alien workmen, alien to America and even likely to be made hostile to America by machinations such as have recently been provided in the case of the two foreign embassies in Washington. We cannot afford to run the risk of having in time of war men working on our railways or working in our munition plants who would in the name of duty to their own foreign countries bring destruction to us. Recent events have shown us that incitements to sabotage and strikes are in the view of at least two of the great foreign powers of Europe within their definition of neutral practices. What would be done to us in the name of war if these things are done to us in the name of neutrality?

One America

All of us, no matter from what land our parents came, no matter in what way we may severally worship our Creator, must stand shoulder to shoulder in a united America for the elimination of race and religious prejudice. We must stand for a reign of equal justice to both big and small. We must insist on the maintenance of the American standard of living. We must stand for an adequate national control which shall secure a better training of our young men in time of peace, both for the work of peace and for the work of war. We must direct every national resource, material and spiritual, to the task not of shirking difficulties, but of training our people to overcome difficulties. Our aim must be, not to make life easy and soft, not to soften soul and body, but to fit us in virile fashion to do a great work for all mankind. This great work can only be done by a mighty democracy, with these qualities of soul, guided by those qualities of mind, which will both make it refuse to do injustice to any other nation, and also enable it to hold its own against aggression by any other nation. In our relations with the outside world, we must abhor wrongdoing, and disdain to commit it, and we must no less disdain the baseness of spirit which lamely submits to wrongdoing. Finally and most important of all, we must strive for the establishment within our own borders of that stern and lofty standard of personal and public neutrality which shall guarantee to each man his rights, and which shall insist in return upon the full performance by each man of his duties both to his neighbor and to the great nation whose flag must symbolize in the future as it has symbolized in the past the highest hopes of all mankind.